


honesty

by chasingstarlight



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, percabeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2014-06-16
Packaged: 2018-02-04 20:44:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1792612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasingstarlight/pseuds/chasingstarlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annabeth needs to know where they stand, and Percy's happy to tell her. Sort of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	honesty

"You need to stop doing this. At least tell me what I did wrong."

His utterance was commanding, stern, but not close enough to veil the blatancy of this apparent truth which had befallen them in the inevitability of silence. She infuriated him -- the refusal to unveil a sliver of herself to him, now that he was dying to know. She could only ensnare him that way, captivate his interest with the slightest of gazes in his direction, but now she could barely look at him and he bit back an exasperated breath.

"It doesn't matter to you anyway, does it? It's all been one big game to you. I believe curiosity is what you're calling it." The words left an acrid taste in her mouth.

Now it was his turn to feel the flare of aggravation. Her eyes narrowed into slits, and it nearly made him shift uncomfortably. The intensity flickering within her stare had a tendency to grasp him. He gave her a pointed stare of his own - she dared to be affronted.  
That's when that daunting realization descended. What the wild, interesting burst of astounding truth spilled as he caught the light in her eyes.

Betrayal seeped into her long enough to sting, and his throat tightened, jaw locking as if she were inconsolable and his words could not heal. Suddenly, his mouth parted, but no words could escape him. He was an idiot, just as she always told him and his heart sank at the simplest of possibilities that it might be a wound they might never recover from.

"Yeah, that's what I figured." Red rimmed hues averted his stare, and she swallowed to fight the lump in her throat. She wanted to reach across and slap the sense into herself - as infuriated with him as she was, she couldn't bring herself to hurt him. Not after everything, despite himself. She couldn't expect him to know what the weight of this pain was. She just had to distance herself the way she always did. 

Then he said her name and she fought the urge to throw her arms about his neck and pull her to him. He'd never said it that way, speaking to her in slow, lulling cadences. Tenderly. A voice that reminded her of his palm cradling her cheek. Now she wanted to disappear.

"Stop, Annabeth. It's not like that with you. It hasn't been for a long time and you know it."

She whirled around, a fury ablaze in her eyes, and he wished she would smile. Instead, she took another step toward him, hissing out of pure aggravation.  
"Then why don't you tell me what this is then, since you know so well, Percy?"

A palm lifted to caress her cheek, and she stilled, as if resisting every urge to draw him closer, her tears burning into his flesh. Instead, her piercing gaze avoided his.  
"I don't know. But I want you, that's all I know. Just you."

She gaped, his brazen assertion coaxing the spill of a coy question as her steps backtracked. "What?"

"Don't pretend you didn't know all along. Like your friends pretend not to notice. Like mine don't." He cast her an almost forlorn glance.

She took a few steps backwards, though he only followed her until the backs of her thighs greeted the desk, and a few swear words spilled in barely audible tones from her mouth.

"I don't know what you wanted to hear, but that's what I needed to say. I want you. Just you, Annabeth."  
Rather than to entrap her in his hold, he straightened his posture, turning away from her, until her arm reached forward to grasp his own. If rejection would strike him, as it had so many other times, he didn't want to catch the pity in her face - the look upon his best friend would leave him bitter, undoubtedly.

"Where are you going?"  
His brow hoisted upward, confusion apparent within his gaze, just until her fingers coiled into his dark locks, tugging him to her mouth to greet him with a kiss

"Still hate me?" He inquired, but she could only laugh against his mouth. 

"What do you think?"


End file.
